Last to Leave, First to Arrive
by Moon-and-Lilies
Summary: As the Kaiba brothers both move to new stages in their lives, they grow apart and the realization comes to them that perhaps only one will ever be happy. But that's only if they give up, and when has a Kaiba ever given up?
1. Acceptance before the storm

Hi!!!!!!!!!! Ah-em sorry, I'm sorry I haven't updated any of my fics in a while, but I've been busy. The computer I usually use, my personal lap-top died and so I have to use someone else's comp, which let me tell you is not fun. But before I start ranting let me tell you all some very important facts first. This is a duet fic that I, Epiphany Under Moonlight, am doing with lily22. We decided we'd like to explore Kaiba's little world for a while and maybe destroy some stuff while we're there. Therefore we make up Moon-and Lilies. Cute huh? Also the first chapter belongs to me and the next is going to be all HER. Review because it's nice and helpful and it makes our self-esteem rise. No joke. Also pray for me I've got a bunch of tests before Christmas break which may keep me from updating. Damn.  
  
Also before I start on the fic, let me explain the title a little. I figure that while Mokuba hasn't lived the most sheltered life he really doesn't have many trustworthy experiences he can look back on when it comes to people, what with Pegasus, Gozaburo, the Big Five (it's a wonder the kids not a raving lunatic) so because of what happens, Seto sorta hides him away from the general public, thus the "Last to Leave Part", but where Seto has become anti-social and outwardly callous towards people, Mokuba is going to have a healthy relationship with everyone he meets, he's even going to get a boyfriend. Yes you heard right, nothing to serious but Yaoi-dislikers beware. Now this brings us to the "First to Arrive part", and this of course is going to breed conflict in the Kaiba house, thus the whole plot of this fic. Please Read on and review.   
  
Cold blue eyes slowly followed printed word after word as the young man sitting in the black leather chair of his private office finally came to the end.  
  
As he read the long drawn-out conclusion that oozed with sickening cheerfulness he raised an eyebrow and his eyes flashed as he grumbled, annoyed at the overbearing ness of it all.  
  
The ridiculousness of it all.  
  
Once the text was done he gracefully threw the sheets of paper onto a corner of his desk with a quick flick of the wrist, and with another he swept the equally ornate envelope in the same direction before turning back to his keyboard and resuming his work.  
  
...  
  
If he had lived a different life he would have been shouting for joy, jumping up and down, acting like a fool and pretending that one simple sentence promised him anything in life.  
  
...Hah.  
  
That was a dream and he hadn't lived the life of a dreamer, he knew better.   
  
The only thing life ever promised was a quick swift kick in the teeth if you even thought for one second that anyone was going to save you.  
  
That you were ever in anyone's grace.  
  
No. Anywhere he would ever go, anything he would ever do, all of it would be nothing if he didn't know.  
  
It would be smoke, mirrors, shadow, and trick-light if he didn't have complete control over it all and show everyone.  
  
That if he couldn't contain it, force it, keep it in a death vise until it faded and past knowing that there was no way it would ever screw him over...  
  
Again...  
  
Then every success might as well have been a failure, every piece of work as good as a cheat.  
  
Every tear and sweat and drop of blood might as well have been stupid childishness, and joy, and laughter, and hope if he didn't prove that he was the best.  
  
And he was.  
  
He was, and he would always be.  
  
And no matter how long, how much effort it took, how much he might stand to lose he would prove again and again that he deserved it all.  
  
...  
  
And though he no longer had any faith, it being lost in the first youthly moment of betrayal, he willingly used the Lord's name because he too knew that Seto Kaiba deserved everything that he'd fought for.  
  
...lost for.  
  
...  
  
And yes he had lost.  
  
More times then he would have liked to admit he had lost, some things not so important, things that he could live without, but something that made others gaze at him in anger and pity as though he was...  
  
No.  
  
He was okay.  
  
Better than okay actually, that lying trivial word, he was Seto Kaiba.  
  
A boy who's name was well-known and not easily forgotten.  
  
Or whose reputation could be succeeded.  
  
Teenage billionaire, owner and entrepreneur, famous and world-renowned.  
  
He had lived the life he had lived, and he was still living it, still facing down the past hiding in moments of forgetfulness, still hearing the cruel laugh in the quiet moments of present.  
  
But he was living, something that had deeply frightened him as he lay in his bed at night as a child, staring at the moonlit ceiling, and perhaps though living he was not existing as vibrantly as others, but hell.  
  
It didn't matter how you played the game, it was whether or not you walked away in shame or glory and in the end he was the victor and they...  
  
Nothing.  
  
Because through all the hell and the battles and the shame and loss it was only the conclusion that mattered.  
  
Only the victor that was rewarded.  
  
And he had come to a fact that infallibly proved to be true.  
  
  
  
Life was a bitch.  
  
A Rose Madder, that waited and watched and preyed on the weak, and finally caught them.  
  
And once caught it ripped them to shreds, devoured them, threw what was left to the winds and cackled as other weak ones trembled and shivered in fear.  
  
He knew.  
  
He had tasted fear, not the kind that killed, the kind that scarred absolutely with the roses with poisoned thorns, but its sister and from it he had become the person he was now.  
  
Strong, iron-willed, successful.  
  
...  
  
The person he would always be.  
  
...And that person...  
  
Had just been accepted to an exceptional university.  
  
... 


	2. If you'd like to make a call

Right. Er, no, no! It hasn't been more than a week since I was SUPPOSED to write this chapter, you just, ah, imagined it! Please don't hurt me! (cringe)

~~

"Nii-san, Nii-san!" Came the cry, followed by an overly eager boy bounding down the stairs at impossible speeds. When Seto shot his brother a stern look, the storm that was Mokuba slowed down marginally before pouncing. Though Seto's heart leapt whenever Mokuba met him so zealously, his response wasn't particularly warm.

"What have you been up to?"

If Mokuba noticed the slight strain in Seto's voice that came from getting absolutely zero sleep last night, he didn't show it. His arms, around Seto's waist, didn't loosen a bit, as if he were afraid that Seto might just disappear, trickle right out from between his fingers and flee. 

"Mokuba," Seto uttered with an exasperated sigh, though he wouldn't have traded this moment for the world, "I don't have time for this. I was just on my way out…"

After a moment's pause, Mokuba uttered a small "oh" against Seto's stomach, and pulled away. "I see," he whispered.

How did what he say always manage to be exactly the opposite of what he felt? He knelt, pulled Mokuba into a warm embrace, and buried his face in Mokuba's hair. "What is it, Mokuba? If you want, I can cancel. I always have time for you."

Mokuba pulled away, shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't matter anyways. I sure you have more important things to deal with."

Silently, Seto stood and picked up his briefcase. It wasn't until he reached the door that he turned around. "Nothing can be more important than you Mokuba. You know that, don't you?"

Without much conviction, Mokuba glanced away, and nodded.

~~

As he drove to the stupid university that he never wanted to go to anyways, all he could think about was how he was going to give the director a piece of his mind and inform her that he would not be attending the university after all, that he would take his courses online or not at all, because he _did not have time to waste._

All he could think about was the crestfallen expression on Mokuba's face when Seto had left, too busy to even talk to him.

"I'll take him to the movies tomorrow," he promised, "Or anywhere he wants. It'll be just the two of us, all day long. I won't even do any work, even if those incompetent fools call to inform me that my computer has just spontaneously combusted and the only way to save all the data is to copy the backup files quickly because the backup computers were also about to bust into flames…"

Quite surprised that he had so much imagination, he nodded to himself and drove a little bit faster, because the sooner he got there, the sooner he could go home, right? 

Mokuba was waiting for him.

Right?

~~

The dial tone sounded twice before Mokuba answered. "Nii-san? Is something wrong?" His voice sounded distracted and a bit faint.

"No, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everything okay?"

"Mmhmm," Mokuba muttered. There was a clunking sound, and laughter. "Listen, I gotta go. I have a friend over, and we were kind of in the middle of something. Talk to you later, okay?"

Shock paralyzed Seto, but he still managed to say something along the lines of "Okay, bye." 

Mokuba hung up.

"…Of… of course Mokuba has a friend over. I… I can't expect him to always be mine alone, right?"

The only response was the automated message of the operator, "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again…" But Seto was too numb to do as he was told, and he sat, frozen in his car, one pale hand still clutching the phone to his ear.

"It's fine… I shouldn't be… so… protective… Not… jealous…"

The sound of his mutterings didn't even reach his own ears. Finally, when he had collected himself, he snapped his phone shut and got out, staring at the university. What were his arguments for not wanting to attend classes again? Suddenly, he couldn't remember a single good reason.

He was so going to botch this.


End file.
